The aviation themed restaurant adjacent to the 25-Runway complex is set to close on November 21st after 48-years.

The restaurant which sits on 8.3 acres of commercial property has been without a permanent lease since April 2011.
According to LAWA the restaurant has been paying below market value rents and has been unable to reach a new rental agreement for the site.

Noooooo!! My mother brought me there for my middle school graduation dinner 25 years ago. The awesome filet while watching the birds go into the 25s and the old planes all over the grounds was definantely a formative in my developing love for aviation. I really hope a resturant remains should the lease get taken over.

It just seems things have been slow in recent years, especially compared to the 90s.

The parking lot seems rather quiet always, and I have not attended any airline or government related events there in ages. It seems they have not attracted to volume of business of past years.

Also probably does not help, the place is getting old, both the interior and exterior show their age with seemingly these guys not putting money back in to the place to freshen it up. After all the restaurant and event hosting business is very competitive industry especially in a market like LA where one has so much choice.

Tons of great memories. Sunday Brunch after church. Memorabilia shows in the 90s. High School awards dinners. But the best were from the early 70s when we kids rode our bikes from home in Manhattan Beach and camped in the parking lot all day armed with a Radio Shack Jetstream VHF radio tuned to 118.9.

Tomas SJC

When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward -Leonardo DaVinci

It always makes me laugh to hear a landlord claim the tenant won't pay "market" rates for a property. Unless there are others pounding on their door, begging to lease the property, the rate the tenant offers to pay is the market rate. Usually, the landlord thinks that it's too hard for the business to move so they have them over a barrel, but as we see, it's cheaper just to CLOSE than to pay a "market" rate for this property.

How long will it take to find a new tenant? Can't build anything tall there, right under the flight path, and a lot of companies wouldn't want to be located there.

Is Wally Park going to build a facility there? How long will it take? How many years will it take the landlord to recoup the months of no rent they will endure rather than coming to a more agreeable "market" rate for the property. How many pennies-wise will this pound-foolish landlord be? Or do they have someone lined up?

You see this all the time in LA. Just talking to a friend today who had a tile store in Burbank, landlord felt a 20% raise in rent in 2008 was reasonable, friend didn't agree and moved his business instead of paying extortion, building went unrented for 18 months!

I watched the final Space Shuttle landing from there. Sad news indeed. Someone should rally In-N-Out to open a chain there; and spotters will rejoice at having 2 good LAX approach locations with decent food!

A sure sign that the apocalypse is upon us...I hope there are plans for all of the planes and that they get moved before some damn wrecker from the landlord comes in and just crushes them. There are some great planes there.

Thanks for the news. My wife already wants to go spotting when Hello Kitty is there, so it works out, especially if it is Wednesday when my daughter plays soccer in Manhattan Beach.

Quote:airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles said the company has not sent an official letter of termination to Los Angeles World Airports, the restaurant’s landlord.

So it isn't exactly a done deal. Possibly the Proud Bird leaked this story to get some public response passed on to the LA City council.

Quoting ikramerica (Reply 12):Unless there are others pounding on their door, begging to lease the property, the rate the tenant offers to pay is the market rate.

LAWA's responsibility is to operate their airports efficiently. If they think they should get more rent for on-airport property, they can and should try. If they get the increase, they have done their job. If they accept whatever they can get, they have done their job. If they find a way to keep an asset like Proud Bird on the property, they have done their job. If they let it go vacant without a good reason, then the people of LA lose out, even though the Proud Bird's rent is less than a rounding error in the city budget.

There are/were 94th Aero Squandron restaurants around the country. One was at PIE, but closed early 90's. Another was at Montgomery Field in San Diego, not sure if it is still open.

As part of the same restaurant group, we had 56th fighter group restaraunt here at FRG. Most in the chain are closed now, and I can relate to the same feelings everyone has had about the Proud Bird as I had the same connection to the 56th.....broke my heart when it closed. Looks like ill have to plan a trip to LAX to check this one out before its too late!

The end of an ERA, that's for sure.
I remember many LAACA meetings and Christmas parties being held there.
It was always a good place to run into other Airline Sales reps as they took a lunch break there.
Also used to be home to the LAX Airliner shows, before the Embassy Suites, and before the Hacienda.
My favorite thing their besides the buffet, was the headsets by the windows that allowed you to
listen to the tower communications with the arriving and departing aircraft.